My producer thinks he can pry a little more money loose if he had a reel to show his investors. I had already shot some light test on location, but he wanted something with a little more punch. Never one to do things the simple way, I decided to shoot a full length feature for under $200.
This is even harder than shooting one for under $200,000, but in a way; more liberating. You have to call in a lot of favors, but you can pretty much tell anyone that gets in your way to fuck off. Case in point:
If you're like me, you've probably signed up for a bunch of these silly movie maker social web sites. Each one of them claiming to be the 'facebook' of the film industry. They are all pretty much the same and they all pretty much suck, but when you are looking for free cast and crew it is a good place to start.
I had a guy 'friend request' me on one of these sites that I didn't know, but what the heck, isn't that the point, to meet new people in the film industry? I accepted and looked at his profile. He was a special effects guy and had his reel posted, which was little more than him pouring blood and latex over his friends; but he seemed sincere about it. So, I emailed him and asked if he'd be interested in working on my film. I'd pay for his expendables, but there would be no paycheck, just the joy and experience of working on a film.
Well, he became indignant and said that, of course I would pay for expendables and if I wanted his talents I would also have to pay for his time. He didn't get to where we was in this industry by giving his time away, and then generally poo pooed lo/no budget films, and gave me the very sage advice that if I didn't use trained professionals my film would suck.
Thanks to IMDB it is now possible to get a pretty good idea of where his guy had gotten to in 'this industry'. He did special effects on one short two years ago with a listed budget of $5,000 and in the trivia section they were very proud of the fact that they used live guns on the set.
I thanked him for his time and said it didn't sound like we should continue being connected on the website. I didn't want his professional status sullied by association with a rank amateur such as myself.
As with so many other things in life, I decided to do the make-up effects myself. That's what I really wanted to do when I first started this trip in the 70's and I've worked with the legendary Mike Tristano, the man behind the bells and whistle on BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR, DEATH MACHINE, D.E.B.S., LEPRECHAUN 2, HUMANOIDS FOR THE DEEP and over 300 other movies you probably won't find at Blockbuster. So this would be like coming home for me.
I act for free in a lot of student and experimental films that will never find a paying audience, but hopefully will help a young film maker film themselves. Although at times I have to bite my tongue, I generally enjoy the experience and truly hope that you will give some broke local your time and talent for free, just to get the movie done some day. Thinking about how much fun working with Mike was got me think about a classic low budget horror flick I worked about seven jobs on, LUTHER: THE GEEK.
LUTHER now rides under the Troma brand, but it was made by Troma Studios. Writer/director Carl Albright put the whole thing together out of his love for horror films and his need to be heard. Those who were getting paid made little more than per diem money, but it launched a lot of careers.
Mike Tristano was the make-up effects guy on the film, but he had his name removed when his saw how truly sick some of the gags came out. Bill Purcell also did the squib work on the film. He had already done RAMBO, THE WRATH OF KHAN and HOME ALONE, so I'm not exactly sure why he was slumming it, but it didn't hurt his career; as he went on to work on MUPPETS IN SPACE, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, THE NOTEBOOK and as a matter of fact is just finishing up work on CABIN FEVER 2.
LUTHER was David Knox's first gig as Cinematographer. I remember a lot of the crew when to see DIRTY DANCING because he had been the Steadicam guy on that film. He went on to work THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, WHAT ABOUT BOB, JUMANJI, HITCH and about 70 others. We even worked together again on WITH HONORS.
Cidele Curo, who did the make-up for LUTHER went on to do make-up for films like MANIAC COP 2 and ELMO SAVES CHRISTMAS before branching off into acting. Bix Skahill, our 2nd AD, kicked around on GRUMPIER OLD MEN and FARGO before becoming a writer/director in his own right with the Sara Jurassic Parker classic LIFE WITHOUT DICK.
Troy Peters started his long, illustrious career as a set dresser on LUTHER. He's gone on to dress L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, PLEASANTVILLE, THE FIGHT CLUB, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, SEABISCUIT and many other big budget films (although there is no excuse for working on THE OTHER SISTER).
The Wendy Hedin and Mike Jordan, from the sound editing department on LUTHER went on to be heard on films like A BRONX TALE, FLIRTING WITH DISASTER, CAPTAIN JACK and TREES LOUNGE. I would even go on to work with Mike again on THE MOUSE (although I was laying in hospital bed by the time he started his work).
Dave O'Dell worked the boom on LUTHER and then PASSENGER 57, ACE VENTURA, BAD BOYS and SPEED 2 (no one blames him for leaving the business after SPEED 2). Steve Rogers, the sound mixer, became a legend in the porn industry under the name Captain America and worked in films his kids could see like BALTO, DREAM HOUSE, KUNDUN and some After School Specials.
LUTHER was an early credit for Ed Fernandez who just wrapped doing stunt work on THE EXPENDABLES. You might have seen him in CRANK, DEATH RACE, RAMBO, THE RUNDOWN about 100 other movies and a whole lot of TV. James Fierro (HOFFA, RUDY, GROUNDHOGS DAY) and Stacy Logan (BACKDRAFT, GROSSE POINTE BLANK) were also a part of stunt coordinator Kay Whipple's team.
Between them, grips Todd MacNicholl, Paul Schneider and Mike Swenson (key grip) have 35 movies, including THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, THE COWBOY WAY, THE TRIP TO THE BOUNTIFUL and about everything Spike Lee has ever shot.
Of course they are not all success stories. Negative cutter Fred Koevary, who had worked on FINNEGAN BEGIN AGAIN, THE IMAGEMAKER and MARRIED TO THE MOB never worked again after LUTHER. I'm not sure if this was because of the coming of the digital age or the LUTHER experience, but I do know it didn't hurt David Platt.
David was the producer on LUTHER. He had also worked with Carl on an earlier film, THE CHILDREN. David had been a boom operator on a number of features and then worked his way into being a sound mixer on TV. Now David is the beloved director of shows like LAW & ORDER, HOUSE M.D. and THE WIRE (although everyone connected with HOUSE is tainted in my book until they fess up and just admit that Hugh Laurie is using his cane with the wrong hand and fix it).
My point is this; working on a lo/no budget films doesn't have to be a Troma experience. That is, hating everyone and everything connected with the film when you are done and leaving the industry. From just that one little, bloody chicken film, LUTHER, many respectable careers in Hollywood were launched. So go ahead and crew for that first time director shooting on video, act, do the special effects. Get it done. You never know where it will take you.
Of course, you could also end up like me, but they have support groups to help you through that now.
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Lance Norris gives us his opinions on the state of film, vents about Hollywood, and generally lets his thoughts fly.
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